Rockingham Landfill Gas Abatement Facility

Rockingham Landfill Gas Abatement Facility is a waste sector project located at the Millar Road Landfill Facility in Baldivis, approximately 7km southeast of the Rockingham city centre and 45km south of Perth, Western Australia. Registered in August 2013, the project operates within a major municipal waste site serving the rapid urban expansion of the southern Perth metropolitan corridor. The surrounding region is characterized by peri-urban land use, transitioning from historical market gardening and grazing to increasing residential development and industrial zones.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas) Methodology Determination 2021. This methodology awards carbon credits for the capture and combustion of methane, a potent greenhouse gas released during the anaerobic decomposition of organic waste. Unlike projects that simply flare gas to destroy it, this facility utilizes the captured gas to fuel internal combustion engines, generating renewable electricity that is exported to the South West Interconnected System (SWIS). This process not only abates emissions but also displaces fossil-fuel-based grid energy.

Geographically, the facility sits on the Swan Coastal Plain, a region defined by a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The average annual rainfall is typically between 700mm and 800mm. The local soil profile consists predominantly of the Spearwood and Quindalup dune systems, featuring deep, sandy soils and limestone substrates. These highly permeable soils make the landfill's engineered lining systems critical for protecting the region's shallow groundwater tables from leachate.

Originally developed with involvement from AGL Energy, the project is now operated by LMS Energy, Australia's leading bioenergy company. A notable commercial aspect of this project is its maturity; it successfully completed a substantial carbon abatement contract (CAC203884) with the Australian Government in February 2023. Having transitioned through multiple legislative methods (from the original Carbon Farming Initiative to the 2015 and now 2021 methods), the facility continues to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) beyond its initial contract term, contributing to Western Australia’s renewable energy capacity.